U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,615 (Cotron Corporation) discloses a headset according to the preamble wherein the attachment device is an ear hook and wherein the speaker housing is attached to the end of a boom which is passed through a sleeve, which again is attached to the ear hook.
When the headset is arranged with the ear hook around the ear, the speaker housing can be adjusted to the size of the ear by sliding the boom in the sleeve. The boom can also rotate in the in the sleeve, whereby the speaker housing can be adjusted for optimum fit and rotated approximately 180° for changing between left ear use and right ear use. A problem with such a high degree of rotational freedom is that it is more cumbersome to attach the headset, as the user must pre-adjust it before attaching it to the ear.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,213,667 (Nixon, Inc) discloses a headset of the earphone type comprising two speaker housings and a headband as attachment device. The speaker housings are attached to the headband by a ball and socket arrangement, whereby the speaker housings can be rotated approximately 90° into a compact position, whereby the headset is more flat and easier to stow. The ball and socket arrangement gives a high degree of rotational freedom, whereby the headset becomes more “articulated” or “rickety” making it more cumbersome to attach to the head.
In this application the term headset should be interpreted broadly to cover all head worn audio devices comprising a speaker housing and an attachment device, including mono and stereo headphones and communication headsets comprising a microphone.